Method of acquiring products from vendor websites

ABSTRACT

A method for retrieving product codes from a Vendor Website over a network and inserting the product codes into an Affiliate Website. A search of the Vendor Website is conducted based on a keyword list created by a registered affiliate and product codes are acquired including graphic data and descriptive text for products obtained in the search. A unique identification code is inserted into the product codes, which are stored in a products database and displayed along with manually activatable editing buttons which allow the registered affiliate to edit the products database. The products database is uploaded to a server to serve the products database along with the Affiliate Website so that viewers of the Affiliate Website can purchase the products.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce and, moreparticularly, to a method for automating the process of searching forand acquiring commission-earning products offered for sale on one ormore Vendor Websites and selectively incorporating the acquired productsinto an Affiliate Website.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Over the past several years, use of the internet for the sale of goodsand services has rapidly grown. Online shopping has become a routinemethod used by consumers for the purchase of goods and services and issupplanting some of the more traditional purchasing methods, such asmail-order catalogs and television shopping networks. The internet hasmade available to consumers countless sources of competitively-pricedgoods and services which may be selected, ordered, and received on anexpedited basis (e.g., overnight) by a consumer without requiring theconsumer to leave his or her home. Various online mechanisms that enablecomparative price shopping and product sampling and comparison arecurrently being utilized, and newer electronic commerce methods arecontinuously being developed to improve the online shopping experience.The convenience and ease of use of internet shopping has ensured thecontinued existence of this relatively new form of shopping. Although itis unlikely to replace retail outlets as the leading source of revenuefor retailers, internet shopping is likely to continue in growth and toexpand to other forms of communication mediums such as interactivetelevision and wireless information networks.

The “vendor/affiliate” scheme has grown to become one of the most commonmethods used for the sale of goods over the internet. “Primary” or“stocking” online vendors are those that maintain an inventory of goodsthat are offered for sale on a so-called “Vendor Website”. A VendorWebsite is any website maintained by a primary vendor of goods orservices through which such goods or services may be directly purchasedby consumers. Vendor Websites typically contain HTML product code foreach product offered for sale online. The product code includesgraphical and text descriptions of the product along with pricinginformation and embedded links to the vendor's purchasing resource.

Some online vendors offer “registered affiliates” the ability to acquirethese HTML product codes from their Vendor Website and incorporate theminto an “Affiliate Website” to enable consumers to purchase the vendor'sgoods indirectly through the Affiliate Website, while offering theregistered affiliate a commission for such sales. As used herein, theterm “Affiliate Website” means any website maintained by a member of thegeneral public who has become a registered affiliate of a VendorWebsite. As will be appreciated, any website may theoretically serve asan Affiliate Website.

The vendor/affiliate scheme provides primary online vendors with theability to dramatically increase sales by permitting their goods toappear for sale on an unlimited number of Affiliate Websites on theinternet. Thus, for instance, the goods sold online at well-known VendorWebsites such as AMAZON.COM, ALLPOSTERS.COM, E-MERCHANDISE.COM, andART.COM may be purchased directly through such Vendor Websites.Additionally, consumers may purchase goods sold by these primary vendorsthrough a continuously increasing number of Affiliate Websites operatedby non-stocking vendors. Many of the most commonly visited websitesserve as Affiliate Websites for a large number of vendors.

In particular, many well known Vendor Websites have accumulated largenumbers of registered affiliates who have registered to becomenon-exclusive dealers of selected goods sold on the Vendor Website. Thevendor/affiliate scheme provides the registered affiliate with theability to operate a “virtual” mail-order house in a manner that issignificantly easier to implement than the expense and burden associatedwith maintaining an inventory of goods. The vendor/affiliate schemedispenses with the need for the operator of an Affiliate Website tomaintain an inventory of merchandise and to create product codes for itsgoods. Moreover, the vendor/affiliate scheme provides registeredaffiliates with autonomy in that many primary vendors ship goods orderedthrough Affiliate Websites with the identity of the registered affiliateon the packing label so that it appears to consumers that the purchasedgoods originated from the registered affiliate rather than the primaryvendor.

The vendor/affiliate scheme has proven to be a tremendously effectivemethod for the sale of goods over the Internet. There are currently overone million registered affiliates of the AMAZON.COM Vendor Websitealone, and a significant portion of the revenue generated by many onlinevendors is actually generated by sales made by registered affiliates.

Despite its success, the conventional vendor/affiliate scheme remainselusive to most members of the general public because it is somewhatdifficult and inconvenient to implement. Any person may become aregistered affiliate by obtaining a unique “Affiliate CommissionNumber/ID”, otherwise referred to as a “tracking number” from eachvendor. By obtaining a tracking number, the operator of the AffiliateWebsite may then become a non-exclusive dealer of any of the productsoffered for sale on the Vendor Website.

However, the method of searching for products and incorporating suchproducts into an Affiliate Website remains somewhat sophisticated andinconvenient. In order to search for products on a Vendor Website andincorporate corresponding product codes into an Affiliate Website, theregistered affiliate must engage in a lengthy process with the VendorWebsite. The registered affiliate must also insert the proper trackingnumber into the product code for each product incorporated into theAffiliate Website to ensure that a commission is duly paid to theregistered affiliate for each sale made through the Affiliate Website.Sales occur when users visit the Affiliate Website and purchase goodsfrom that website through a link to the Vendor Website incorporated intothe product data.

A significant drawback currently associated with the conventionalvendor/affiliate scheme is that it requires advanced knowledge and asubstantial amount of time to implement. For instance, a keyword searchfor suitable products performed on the AMAZON.COM Vendor Website using asearch term such as the name of a well known movie (e.g., “TITANIC”)would yield a random selection of hundreds of different products in manydifferent product categories, such as pre-recorded movies onvideocassette and DVD, wearing apparel, pre-recorded music, books,periodicals, various types of artwork, and the like, many of which aregistered affiliate may have no interest in featuring on an AffiliateWebsite. Thus, the registered affiliate must manually select specificproducts of interest. Thereafter, the appropriate code must be generatedfor each of the selected products, the tracking number must be insertedinto the product code for each product, and the Affiliate Website mustbe manually updated to incorporate the product data. This processrequires substantial knowledge of website creation.

Furthermore, the conventional vendor/affiliate scheme requires theregistered affiliate to generate the product code one at a time for eachproduct of interest complete with the registered affiliate's uniquetracking number inserted therein. Not only is the initial process ofobtaining products of interest a tedious task, but the process ofupdating an Affiliate Website is also quite burdensome.

For example, AMAZON.COM refers to this conventional scheme as “Get HTML”because it results in searching for and “getting” the HTML product codesassociated with products sold on the AMAZON.COM Vendor Website. However,the Get HTML process is cumbersome and complicated to use. For example,when the typical “Get HTML” process is performed by a registeredaffiliate on the AMAZON.COM website in search for a DVD of the movie“TITANIC”, the registered affiliate must visit the AMAZON.COM VendorWebsite, log in with his or her email address and password, activate alink to visit the so-called “Associates Central” section, and click onthe “Build-A-Link” option to indicate that the registered affiliatewishes to create a link to the AMAZON.COM site on the Affiliate Websitefor a particular product. The registered affiliate must then click onthe option “Individual Item Links” and then on the “Build Some” option.Thereafter, the registered affiliate must select the type of productsrequired or leave the default setting as “All Products”. A keyword(e.g., “TITANIC”) is then entered by the registered affiliate, and the“Get HTML” process proceeds. Upon completion, the registered affiliatemust view all retrieved products and decide which are required, such asa DVD. Thereafter, the registered affiliate must click on the “Get HTML”button associated with the desired product and wait for the product datato be generated with the registered affiliate's unique tracking numberinserted therein. Once this process is complete, the registeredaffiliate must copy all the generated code to the “clipboard” of asuitable computer program and then paste the copied code into theregistered affiliate's database or web page. The database or web page isthen saved and uploaded to a server on which the Affiliate Website islocated.

Aside from the large number of manual steps involved in the “Get HTML”process and other like processes, the conventional method for acquiringproduct codes in the online vendor/affiliate scheme is also very slowbecause only one set of product codes can be generated at a time. If alarge number of product codes are required, a considerable amount oftime and manpower are required.

A somewhat faster method is the so-called “Keyword Links” method, whichallows registered affiliates to acquire multiple products displayed on aVendor Website for incorporation into, an Affiliate Website. However,this known method is also complicated and time-consuming. This method isenabled when the registered affiliate clicks on the “Keyword Links”button of the AMAZON.COM website and selects the type of productsrequired (such as a DVD) from a list, along with a keyword (e.g.,“TITANIC”). The registered affiliate then views retrieved productswithin graphic boxes generated by AMAZON.COM while selecting therequired box to display, i.e., a DVD. The remaining steps are identicalto those of the “GET HTML” method.

Similarly, the “Virtual Shop” scheme on ALLPOSTERS.COM allows a user toenter a keyword to search for multiple products. The user can thenselect which products to retrieve.

Aside from the time-consuming nature of some of the conventional methodsdescribed above, another drawback of these methods is that the productsobtained can only be contained and displayed in a so-called AMAZON box,which is a fixed box having a format and location specified by thevendor. For instance, some of the existing scripts available toregistered affiliates do not allow much control over where and howAMAZON.COM products are displayed on Affiliate Websites. In addition,with some of these scripts, it is not possible to display more than thenumber of products that an AMAZON.COM box can contain, which iscurrently limited to a maximum number of 8 products.

A lengthy log-in process for some of these scripts is currentlynecessary to enable a vendor to generate the registered affiliate'sunique tracking number and incorporate it into the product code of thesearched for and selected product. There is no currently availablemethod or system that allows a registered affiliate to automaticallysearch a plurality of Vendor Websites and retrieve multiple productsfrom a single keyword list while automatically inserting a registeredaffiliate's unique tracking number for each Vendor Website into theretrieved product codes before displaying and marketing such products onan Affiliate Website.

In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art, there is a needfor a method capable of automating the process of acquiringcommission-earning product codes for one or more products offered forsale on one or more Vendor Websites, selectively incorporating theacquired product codes into an Affiliate Website, and updating orreplacing the product codes in the Affiliate Website as desired. Thereis a further need for an intuitive, easy-to-use computer program thatcan be used or easily updated for use with any and all Vendor Websitesand vendor/affiliate schemes without requiring affiliates to learn newsystems and methods each time a new Vendor Website or product searchscheme is introduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide animproved method for electronic commerce and, in particular, an improvedmethod for searching for and retrieving products of interest from VendorWebsites.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method forautomating the process of searching for and retrieving products ofinterest from one or more Vendor Websites.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method forsearching for and retrieving commission earning products from one ormore Vendor Websites and inserting such products into an AffiliateWebsite.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a simplifiedmethod for searching for and retrieving commission earning products froma plurality of Vendor Websites using a single keyword list and insertingsuch products into an Affiliate Website.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method forretrieving product codes for commission earning products from one ormore Vendor Websites and building a products database containing theproducts codes.

Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a methodfor searching for and retrieving products of interest from one or moreVendor Websites, which stores a previously input unique registeredaffiliate tracking number for each Vendor Website and incorporates thecorrect tracking number into product codes retrieved from the respectiveVendor Websites prior to storage of the product codes in a databaseassociated with an Affiliate Website, to thereby eliminate the need forperforming a lengthy log-in and product search process each time asearch for new products is conducted.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a method andsystem for retrieving product codes for commission earning products fromone or more Vendor Websites and inserting the product codes into anAffiliate Website.

Still yet a further object of the present invention is to provide amethod for updating or replacing products contained in an AffiliateWebsite directly from the Vendor Website.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method forretrieving product codes from one or more Vendor Websites over a networkcomprises the steps of storing on a client computer a unique trackingnumber for identifying a Registered Affiliate for each of one or moreVendor Websites, storing a list containing one or more keywords on theclient computer, using the client computer to establish a connection toa Vendor Website over the network, searching the Vendor Website forproducts for sale using the one or more keywords stored on the clientcomputer, and retrieving product codes from the Vendor Website forproducts identified by the search.

In accordance with the foregoing aspect of the present invention, animproved method is provided for automating the search and retrieval ofcommission earning products from one or more Vendor Websites. Morespecifically, a program is executed on a client computer that prompts aregistered affiliate to enter a unique registered affiliate trackingnumber for each of one or more Vendor Websites and to enter a list ofkeywords to be used for searching the Vendor Websites for products ofinterest. The list of keywords may comprise any words of interest, suchas titles of movies, books, and the like, or names of celebrities,actors, performing artists, sports figures, authors, and the like. Fromthe list of keywords input by the registered affiliate, the inventivemethod automatically logs onto and searches through any of the one ormore Vendor Websites and identifies and retrieves products related tothe keywords. Once the products have been retrieved, the inventivemethod automatically incorporates the previously stored registeredaffiliate's unique tracking number into each specific product code andinserts the product codes into the registered affiliate's AffiliateWebsite to guarantee payment of a commission from the vendor to theregistered affiliate for each successful sale made through the AffiliateWebsite.

The method of the present invention automatically, from a given keywordor list of keywords, searches for products on a previously selectedVendor Website. The inventive method retrieves the product code for eachidentified product, complete with all the coding necessary to referencethe products. The inventive method then inserts the registeredaffiliate's unique tracking number into each individual product code andinserts the product codes into the Affiliate Website to ensure that theregistered affiliate is credited with the appropriate commission fromthe vendor for each successful sale made through the Affiliate Website.The inventive method is highly automated and fast, as opposed to thelengthy and slow system currently used on most Vendor Websites. Forinstance, the inventive method allows multiple products to be retrievedfrom multiple Vendor Websites without requiring the user to re-enter thesame search criteria for each Vendor Website.

Once products of interest have been retrieved from a Vendor Website, aproducts database is set up and a control panel allows infiniteselection, de-selection, updating and replacement of retrieved productsfrom the products database so that only selected products appear on theAffiliate Website. Some AMAZON boxes can only display up to 8 products.The inventive method can generate a larger number, for instance, as manyas 10 but not limited to 10 products to display. AMAZON boxes alsoincorporate banners. Preferably, the inventive system does notincorporate banners and can output data in many different formatsincluding, but not limited to, CSV, SQL and PHP.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A and 1B are flowcharts illustrating operation of the ProductsGenerator computer program in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 2-14 are images displayed on a computer monitor by the ProductSearch Section during execution of the Products Generator computerprogram;

FIGS. 15A-15C are images displayed on a computer monitor duringexecution of the manual and semi-manual “Products Grabber” applicationof the Products Generator computer program;

FIGS. 16-30 are images displayed on a computer monitor during executionof the Website Database Wizard of the Products Generator computerprogram;

FIGS. 31-35 are images displayed on a computer monitor during executionof the Control Panel Wizard of the Products Generator computer program;and

FIGS. 36-37 are images of the EMS E-commerce Management System of theProducts Generator Computer program.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be describedhereinafter in connection with a computer program named “ProductsGenerator”, which was written by the present inventors.

As used herein, the names “Products Generator”, “e-commerce essential”,“E-commerce Management System”, Product Grabber”, “Website DatabaseWizard”, “EMS Integrator”, “Control Panel Wizard”, “Products Database”,“Product Window”, “Refresh Window”, and “Special Feature ProductsDatabase” are trademarks for the computer program described herein andare owned by the present inventors.

The Products Generator computer program is a comprehensive softwarepackage contained on a removable storage medium such as a CD. TheProducts Generator program is loaded onto and executed by a clientcomputer operated by a registered affiliate. The client computer ispreferably a typical personal computer running the Microsoft Windowsoperating system or any other suitable operating system such as Apple OSor Linux. In addition, the client computer is connectable to aclient/server network, preferably the internet, and is capable ofaccessing one of more Vendor Websites over the network.

The Affiliate Website may reside on the client computer, but preferablyresides on and is hosted by a remote server that is accessible by theclient computer and other computers over the network. The othercomputers include computers operated by consumers for making e-commercepurchases over the internet.

As described hereinafter, the Products Generator computer programprovides users with a turnkey, fully automated system for acquiring oneor more commission earning products for sale from one or moreparticipating Vendor Websites, and creating or updating an AffiliateWebsite to include any or all of the acquired products.

The Products Generator program automates the process of searching forand retrieving products from Vendor Websites. The Products Generatorprogram is an easy-to-use, user-friendly GUI-based software package thatallows a user who has become a registered affiliate of one or moreparticipating Vendor Websites to automatically search those VendorWebsites for products of interest.

In order to commence an automated product search of Vendor Websites, theregistered affiliate is required to enter a list of keywords relating insome manner to products of interest to be searched for and retrievedfrom each Vendor Website. In response, the Products Generator programautomatically retrieves all required product codes and inserts theregistered affiliate's unique tracking number for each Vendor Websiteinto retrieved product codes before the display and marketing of suchproducts on the Affiliate Website. The Products Generator program storesthe registered affiliate's unique tracking number for each VendorWebsite and automatically incorporates the correct tracking number intoall product codes retrieved from the respective Vendor Websites prior tostorage of the product codes in a Products Database to guarantee paymentof a commission from the respective vendor to the registered affiliatefor each successful sale.

Accordingly, the Products Generator program automates the process ofsearching for, retrieving and incorporating product codes into anAffiliate Website and avoids the need for the registered affiliate to gothrough a lengthy log-in and product search process as required by somevendors and described above in connection with some of the conventionalvendor/affiliate methods.

The Products Generator program provides an intuitive user interface andprovides a highly automated and fast method for selectively retrievingcommission earning products from one or more Vendor Websites as comparedto the time-consuming manual method currently used in connection withmost Vendor Websites that offer registered affiliates the capability toacquire product information online.

As described below, the Products Generator program also provides a“Website Database Wizard” that automatically imports acquired productcodes into an existing Affiliate Website. Alternatively, the WebsiteDatabase Wizard assists the registered affiliate in creating anAffiliate Website. In addition, the Products Generator program includesa Control Panel Wizard that generates a “live on the internet” ControlPanel specific to each particular vendor. The Control Panel allows theregistered affiliate to update the Affiliate Website in real time byenabling the registered affiliate to refresh products via new productsearches, and also enables the updating, validation, selection anddeselection of retrieved products from the products database so thatonly selected products appear on the Affiliate Website.

In addition, as well being able to update and validate products storedin the Products Database, the Products Generator program is also capableof displaying products in “real time” from the Affiliate's website.

Accordingly, the Products Generator computer program is organized infour distinct sections, including: (1) a Product Search Section forsearching for and retrieving products from Vendor Websites in a fullyautomated, semi-automated, or manual manner; (2) a Website DatabaseWizard for assisting the registered affiliate in creating an originalAffiliate Website complete with all the necessary code for the displayof retrieved products, via template pages or by means of individualscripts; (3) a Control Panel Wizard for allowing a registered affiliateto create a “live” on the internet control panel to enable theregistered affiliate to edit retrieved products directly from anAffiliate Website by validating, selecting and de-selecting retrievedproducts from a products database so that only selected and currentproducts appear on the Affiliate Website; and (4) an E-CommerceManagement System which allows the registered affiliate to conductproduct searches of Vendor Websites directly from an Affiliate Website.Each of these distinct sections is described separately below.

(1) Product Search Section

FIGS. 1A and 1B are a flowchart illustrating many of the variousfunctions performed by the Product Search Section of the ProductsGenerator software package in connection with a single Vendor Website.As will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, thesame or similar functions are performed for additional or differentVendor Websites.

In order to simplify the process of acquiring products from VendorWebsites, the Products Generator program provides a user-friendlyinterface which provides step-by-step instructions and prompts theregistered affiliate to enter text and other required data into simpletext boxes and to make selections using familiar data input devices suchas check boxes and pull-down menus.

FIGS. 2-14 illustrate the user interface of the Product Search Sectionof the Products Generator program. More specifically, FIGS. 2-14 arescreen images or screen shots of images displayed on a monitor of theclient computer during operation of the Products Generator program.Thus, FIGS. 2-14 illustrate what the registered affiliate or other userof the Products Generator program would view on a computer monitor whenrunning the program on a typical personal computer. As will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, the Products Generator programis designed with an intuitive user interface that utilizes selectable“buttons”, text boxes, check boxes, and the like, in the same manner ascountless other computer programs designed for use with the MicrosoftWindows and Apple Operating Systems. During use, the Products Generatorprogram requires users to make various selections by clicking on variousbuttons or check boxes and prompts the user to enter text into textboxes.

The functional characteristics and operation of the Product SearchSection of the Products Generator program will now be describedhereinafter with reference to the flowchart of FIGS. 1A and 1B and thescreen images of FIGS. 2-14.

When the Products Generator program is first activated, it generates a“Switchboard” screen (Step 1). FIG. 2 is an image of the Switchboardscreen. The Switchboard screen displays various user-selectable optionseach of which launches a different Products Generator software routine.

In particular, the Switchboard screen includes Vendor Website selectionbuttons 10, 11, 12, 13 for allowing selection of any one of a pluralityof participating Vendor Websites from which goods may be searched forand selected by the registered affiliate. When any one of the VendorWebsite selection buttons 10-13 is clicked on by the user, the ProductsGenerator program launches a product search routine for conducting asearch for products on the selected Vendor Website.

In the presently described embodiment, Vendor Website selection buttonsare provided for AMAZON.COM 10, ALLPOSTERS.COM 11, E-MERCHANDISE.COM 12,and ART.COM 13. This is not intended to limit the scope of the presentinvention. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, adifferent software routine is provided in the Products Generatorsoftware package for each Vendor Website that is searchable. Althoughproduct searches of all Vendor Websites are performed using stringsearches, the search routines contained in the Products Generatorprogram differ from each other based on the unique steps required by therespective online vendors to access the Vendor Website, search forproducts, and acquire product codes. Thus, the steps performed by theProducts Generator program for each respective Vendor Website differslightly in terms of the way they access product codes based upondifferences in the format and location of product codes in each VendorWebsite. The Products Generator program includes a different productsearch software routine unique to each Vendor Website that can beaccessed. Although the presently described embodiment of the ProductsGenerator program includes only the four Vendor Websites mentionedabove, the Products Generator program may be limited to one VendorWebsite or updated to include additional or different Vendor Websites byadding new software routines for accessing such Vendor Websites inaccordance with the teachings of the present invention. Also, asdescribed below, the Products Generator program further includes aProduct Grabber software routine that allows users to acquire codes fromany Vendor or Affiliate Website that offers products for sale online.

Referring again to FIG. 2, in addition to the Vendor Website selectionbuttons 10-13, the Switchboard screen also includes a Website DatabaseWizard selection button 14 that launches a Website Database Wizardsoftware routine for assisting the registered affiliate in creating anoriginal Affiliate Website complete with all the necessary code fordisplay of the retrieved products, via template pages or by means ofindividual scripts. In addition, the Switchboard screen includes aControl Panel Wizard selection button 15 that launches a Control PanelWizard software routine that sets up a control panel that can beaccessed directly from the Affiliate Website without requiring the userto load and execute the Products Generator program. Thus, the ControlPanel Wizard sets up a live control panel that is unique to eachrespective vendor for allowing the registered affiliate to validate,select or de-select products from the products database, directly fromthe Affiliate Website, so that only selected and current products appearon the Affiliate Website. The Switchboard Screen also includes a SetupProducts Grabber button 16 and an EMS Integrator button 17. Each ofthese features of the Products Generator software package are describedin separately-labeled sections below.

In the presently described embodiment of the Products Generator computerprogram, the Switchboard screen remains “open” or “active” to enable theregistered affiliate to select any one of the buttons 10-17 at any timeduring operation of the Products Generator program. In other words, theSwitchboard Screen remains in the background and may be selectivelycalled up and moved to the foreground to allow the registered affiliateto conduct additional product searches or launch one of the wizards.

When the registered affiliate selects one of the Vendor Website selectorbuttons 10-13 by clicking on the selected button, the Product Searchsection commences a search for products on a respective Vendor Websitebased upon a newly-created or previously-stored keyword list. In thefollowing description, it is assumed that the user has clicked on theAMAZON.COM button 10.

Prior to commencing the search, the Product Search section displays aWelcome Screen to advise first-time users of the functionalcharacteristics of the Products Generator program (Step 2). As shown inFIG. 3, the Welcome Screen contains instructions and descriptive text toexplain the purpose of the Products Generator program. Morespecifically, the Welcome Screen advises users that they must registerwith one or more of the participating Vendor Websites shown in theSwitchboard of FIG. 2 to obtain a unique tracking number which is usedto credit the registered affiliate with a commission from each sale madeon the Affiliate Website. The Welcome Screen further advises users thatthe Products Generator program goes to a selected Vendor Website and,from a list of products that the user has input as keywords, searchesthe Vendor Website for relevant products, and retrieves for the user'sdatabase product codes consisting of images, prices, descriptions andlinks for those products. In addition, the Welcome Screen advises usersthat as the Products Generator program retrieves this information, itautomatically inserts the registered affiliate's unique tracking numberinto the product code for each selected product to guarantee commissionfor the registered affiliate's business for each sale made. Accordingly,the Welcome Screen provides first-time users of the Products Generatorprogram with an overview of the program which simplifies operationthereof.

When the user clicks on the “Next” button at the bottom right-hand sideof the Welcome Screen using a mouse or other appropriate input device,the Products Generator program proceeds to display the image shown inFIG. 4A (Step 3A). Thus, the next screen can be displayed once the userhas read the contents of the Welcome Screen. Users who are alreadyfamiliar with the features of the Products Generator program may quicklyproceed to the next screen without reading the contents of the WelcomeScreen.

In order for the Products Generator program to automatically search aVendor Website for products of interest and acquire product codes forincorporation into an Affiliate Website, the user must first create akeyword list for use by the Products Generator program to search forsuch products on a Vendor Website. The Products Generator program doesthis in an automated manner as described below.

FIG. 4A illustrates a list creation screen that is displayed when theuser has selected the AMAZON.COM button 10 in the Switchboard screen ofFIG. 2. The Products Generator program refers to such lists as “PGF”files, which is an abbreviation for “Products Generator File”. ProductsGenerator Files are lists formatted by the Products Generator program.

The list creation screen shown in FIG. 4A includes check boxes 20, 24and 26, which permit previously-created lists to be imported. Such listsmay be in the PGF format, meaning that they have been created ormodified by the Products Generator program, or in another known format.In addition, the list creation screen includes a “Create a New PFG List”check box 22 to enable the user to create a new list.

When a list has been created by the user in a previous session using theProducts Generator program or using another program or application, suchas a word processing program, the user would select the appropriate oneof the “Import” check boxes 20, 24, or 26 to open such list. When a listcreated by another program is imported into the Products Generatorprogram, the list is converted into a PGF file. Such lists may be in theform of, for example, text files, the known CSV format, or any otherformat suitable for such purpose. Another “Import” check box 26 is usedto import a list exported from a Live Control Panel (described below)(Steps 3F, 3G).

The “lists” of keywords referred to herein may be a list of anysearchable terms for which products may exist, such as titles of movies,television shows, books, names of movie stars, celebrities,personalities, cars, sports teams or figures, and the like. There are noparticular limits to the type or number of words or categories that maybe included in such lists.

In the list creation screen shown in FIG. 4A, the user has clicked onthe “Import a CSV or text list” check box 20 and entered the name andlocation of the list to be imported by clicking on a text box 28 andentering the name (“C:\mylistfile.CSV”) therein (Step 3B). Theregistered affiliate has also clicked on a text box 30 and entered thename (“C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\tommo.pgf”) under which the PGF file is to bestored. Thus, when a CSV list is imported into the Products Generatorprogram, it is converted into the PGF format and stored with the filename entered by the user in the text box 30 labeled “Output PGF Files”(Step 3C.)

FIG. 4B illustrates a list creation screen that is similar to that shownin FIG. 4A, but in which the registered affiliate has clicked the“Create a new PGF list” check box 22 and provided a name and locationfor this list (“C:\WINDOWS\Desktop\mylistfile.pgf”) in the text box 30(Step 3D).

Similarly, FIG. 4C is an image of the same screen shown in FIGS. 4A and4B. In FIG. 4C, however, the user has clicked on the “Open a PGF listfile” checkbox 24 and has provided a name and location for this list(C:\amazon.pgf) in a text box 32 (Step 3E). This option opens a listthat was previously stored as a PGF list.

When the user clicks on the Next button in the screen shown in FIG. 4B,the screen image shown in FIG. 5 is displayed by the Products Generatorprogram (Step 4). In this image, a text box 34 is provided that containsthe items contained in the list to be created. The user may add orremove items from the displayed list by typing the name of the item inthe “Item Name” text box 36 or highlighting the name in the text box 34and clicking on the appropriate Add Item button 38, Remove Item button40 or Update Item button 42. Items inserted in the text box 34 may alsobe removed or updated by highlighting the items and clicking on theRemove Item button 40 or the Update Item button 42. PGF files are listsentered into the textbox 34 shown in FIG. 5 to enable the ProductsGenerator program to search for products on a selected Vendor Website.

When the user clicks on the Next button in FIG. 5, the image illustratedin FIG. 6 is displayed by the Products Generator program (Step 5). InFIG. 6, the registered affiliate is prompted to enter in a textbox 46the Affiliate tracking number provided by the particular vendor which,in this case, is AMAZON.COM. Thus, in the illustrated example, theProducts Generator program prompts the user to enter the tracking numberprovided by the AMAZON.COM website. The image shown in FIG. 6 is alsodisplayed after the user has clicked on the Next button after the userhas clicked on the “Open a PGF List File” option 24 in FIG. 4A. Inaddition, the registered affiliate is provided with a Set CurrencyValues button 48 for launching a currency setting routine, which will bedescribed below.

If the registered affiliate has opened a previously saved PGF list inthe list creation screen of FIG. 4C, the previously-stored Affiliate IDassociated with that list is displayed and need not be re-entered againin FIG. 6. The tracking number is inserted into all retrieved productcodes for a respective vendor and is used by the vendor to paycommissions for online product sales made through the registeredaffiliate's Affiliate Website.

When the user clicks on the Next button in FIG. 6, the screenillustrated in FIG. 7 is displayed. This screen provides the registeredaffiliate with various products menus to make product categoryselections (Step 6).

More specifically, in the presently described implementation of theProducts Generator program, the registered affiliate is provided withthe ability to create up to 10 different Product Windows in an AffiliateWebsite. A Product Window is a window created in an Affiliate Website inwhich product code for an individual product is displayed. The use of 10Product Windows is merely illustrative and is not intended to limit thescope of the invention. There is no limit to the number of ProductWindows that may be made available in the Products Generator program. Inthe Product Window screen shown in FIG. 7, product category selectionsmay be made by the registered affiliate for one or more of the 10pull-down product menus 50. For each product menu 50, a drop-down listis provided with a list of appropriate product categories. These productcategories include, but are not limited to, DVD, VHS, Music, Books,Videogames, Apparel, Classical, Theatrical, Toys, Software, Magazines,Baby, PC-Hardware, Electronics, Photo, Tools, Garden, Kitchen, andWireless. These categories depend upon the specific vendor selected onthe Switchboard Screen. The product categories can be changed at anytime and the Products Generator program is designed to be updatable toaccommodate changes in the Vendor Website.

In the example shown in FIG. 7, a different selection has been made foreach of the ten product menus 50. Also in FIG. 7, the user has clickedon the “Use Filter” checkbox 52 to ensure the integrity of retrievedproducts (Step 7A).

The Filter is a software routine in the Products Generator program thatcompares retrieved product codes with the words of the user's keywordlist and selected product categories to ensure that the retrievedproducts correspond thereto. A product search is performed without useof the Filter routine when the “Use Filter” checkbox 52 is unchecked bythe user (Step 7B).

The Filter routine double checks retrieved product results to ensurethat they relate to the original keywords. For example, assuming that asearch is conducted for the keyword “Play Time” and a retrieved productcode contains the description “A long time ago”. When the Filter routinehas been selected by clicking on the checkbox 52, this product will bedeleted because it does not relate to the keyword. However, if the itemdescription contains the term “Play Time”, then the product is retained.

Once the product category selection or selections have been made in oneor more of the product menus 50, the user clicks on the GenerateProducts button 54 in FIG. 7 to commence automatic selection of productsfrom the target website which, in the presently described example, isAMAZON.COM (Step 8).

In the lower portion of the FIG. 7 screen, a progress calculator display56 is provided. While the Products Generator program is conducting asearch of the Vendor Website for products based on the keyword list andthe selected product categories, products falling within the searchcategories are identified and the product codes for the identifiedproducts are retrieved. As the Products Generator program performs thisprocess, it calculates the value of new and used products generated, thepercentage complete, and the revenue generated at a maximum commissionrate of 15%. This figure is for calculation purposes only. Commissionrates vary from vendor to vendor. A user-defined applicable commissionrate or percentage may be input into an appropriate text box providedfor this purpose. The progress calculator displays this information inthe progress calculator display portion 56 of FIG. 7.

FIGS. 8A-8D illustrate various progress read-outs. As shown in FIG. 8A,for the keyword entry “TITANIC”, the Products Generator program searchesthe AMAZON.COM Vendor Website for all products. As this searchprogresses, the Products Generator program displays a progress reportindicating the percentage completed, the value of new and used productsgenerated, and the revenue at a maximum commission rate paid by thevendor. FIGS. 8B-8D show similar progress reports for searches conductedfor the movies “GOLDFINGER”, “BATMAN” and “STAR WARS”.

To enable use of the Products Generator program in different countries,a currency setting routine is also provided. For this purpose, thescreen illustrated in FIG. 6 is provided with a Set Currency Valuesbutton 48. When this button is clicked on by the registered affiliate, acurrency setting menu is displayed, as shown in FIG. 9. The currencysetting menu allows the user to specify the currency type for productsthat are to be acquired from the Vendor Website identified in the FIG. 6screen (Products Input Currency) and to specify the currency type fordisplay of the products on the Affiliate Website (Products DisplayCurrency). The currency setting menu also enables users to specify anapplicable currency conversion rate. In the illustrated embodiment, theProducts Generator program is capable of inputting and displayingproducts in U.S. dollars, British pounds, Euros, or any other currencyof choice.

Clicking on the Generate Products button 54 in FIG. 7 causes theProducts Generator program to commence an automatic search and selectionof products from a target Vendor Website which, in the presentlydescribed example, is AMAZON.COM.

When the search is completed and all products on the Vendor Websitecorresponding to the keywords and product categories have beenretrieved, they are displayed to the user for editing in a Control Panel(Step 9). The Control Panel provides the user with a wide variety ofoptions for utilization of the acquired product codes in an AffiliateWebsite.

Operation of the Control Panel is described below in connection withreference to FIGS. 10-14.

Referring first to FIG. 10, when the Products Generator program hascompleted its search for products identified in the keyword list, aplurality of Product Windows 60 are displayed showing the retrievedproduct codes, including graphic images, obtained from the VendorWebsite. In particular, each Product Window 60 contains a graphic imageof the acquired product, the price of the product, and a box indicatingthe type of the product. In the Control Panel screen, only 10 ProductWindows 60 are displayed at any given time. Product Windows foradditional retrieved products may be displayed by clicking on the “Next”button at the bottom of the screen, or by use of the numeric andalphabetic menu shown at the top left-hand side of the screen. Uponactivation of a number or character, the related keywords are madeavailable via a drop-down list. When any keyword in the list is clickedon, it activates the Control Panel to display products corresponding tothat selection in the Product Windows.

At the top right-hand side of the FIG. 10 screen, the value of newproducts and used products, along with the maximum commission payable,are displayed for the products shown in the screen.

The top of the Control Panel screen of FIG. 10 includes a set of fivetabs, including Help/Intro 69, View/Edit Products 66, Output to Database68, Output to CSV 70, and Advanced 72. Each of these tabs allowsselection of a particular screen or part of the Products Generatorprogram, as described below.

In FIG. 10, the View/Edit Products tab 66 is selected, and the ProductWindows 60 are displayed along with the edit buttons “R” 74, “C” 76, “X”78, and an Unlock/Lock symbol 80 in the form of an icon resembling apadlock (Step 10). The edit buttons 74-78 provided within eachindividual Product Window are used to edit the product in thatrespective Product Window (Step 11). In addition, similar edit buttonsare provided at the bottom of the screen to perform a global edit on allProduct Windows displayed on the screen (Step 12). The edit buttonsallow the user to select various options, as follows:

“R”—Refresh this Product Window (Steps 11A, 12A). Selection of thisoption clears the corresponding product and shows other products thathave just been searched for and retrieved live from the Vendor Websitethat may be selected from. More specifically, selection of this optionwill clear the current product and open a new Refresh Window with otherproducts that have been searched for and retrieved “live” and that canbe selected from. When the user clicks on Select on a displayed product,the selected product will replace the previous one in the source ProductWindow. It could also replace another product in another Product Windowin the Control Panel that has been selected from the drop-down list inthe current Refresh Window. If the user wishes to select all of the newproducts retrieved from the vendor's website in the current RefreshWindow a Select All function is available. Select All will take all ofthe products in the Refresh Window and will populate the Control PanelProduct Windows with all of the products, thereby replacing all thecurrent products. Exceptions to this are any Product Windows that usethe Lock feature. When any Product Window is ‘locked’ no new productsmay be allowed to replace the current ‘locked’ product in that ProductWindow. The user might wish to choose this option to locate a productwith a higher price so that a greater commission would be payable on asale.

“C”—Clear this Product Window of current product (Steps 11B, 12B).Selection of this option leaves the Product Window open for new productsearches and entries. In other words, selection of this option deletesthe current product from the selected Product Window and leaves it openfor new products if the user runs a new product search or selects “R”(Refresh) again.

“X”—Disable this Product Window from future product entries and deletethe current product (Steps 11C, 12C).

The padlock icon is displayed in the form of an unlocked/locked padlockto provide a lock/unlock function (Step 11D). If the padlock open symbolis displayed, the user has allowed new products to be entered into thatProduct Window from any and all searches. If the padlock symbol isclosed or locked the current product is locked into the current ProductWindow and therefore not subject to change without the lock beingde-activated.

Users can manually clear or update individual products with this uniqueProducts Generator Control Panel specifically designed to edit theproducts which have been retrieved from vendor's web sites.

FIG. 11 is the Refresh Window that appears when the user clicks on “R”(refresh) 74 or 82 in the Control Panel screen of FIG. 10. When the userclicks on “Select” on a displayed product, the selected product willreplace the previous one in the source Product Window. It could alsoreplace another product in another Product Window in the Control Panelthat has been selected from the drop-down list in the current RefreshWindow. If the user wishes to select all of the new products retrievedfrom the vendor's website in the current Refresh Window a “Select All”function is available. “Select All” will take all of the products in theRefresh Window and will populate the Control Panel Product Windows withall of the products, thereby replacing all the current products.Exceptions to this are any Product Windows that use the “Lock” feature.When any Product Window is locked, no new products may be allowed toreplace the current locked product in that Product Window.

Referring now to FIG. 12, the “Output to Database” tab 68 has beenselected (Step 13). Output of the retrieved product codes to an internetdatabase is illustrated in FIG. 11. The Products Generator programprovides for two separate output options to enable the ProductsGenerator database to run on the user's website. In the first option, aSQL table structure is created by clicking on the Create File—Table,Structure button 88 in FIG. 11 (Step 14). Then, an “Insert to SQL”script is created and the Create File—Data button 90 is clicked on. Thefirst time a database is constructed or data is input thereto, the usermust select the “Insert” check box 92 prior to clicking on the CreateFile—Data button 90. If the user is updating an existing database, the“Update” check box 94 is selected prior to clicking on the CreateFile—Data button 90.

Once the database files are produced, they may be run on the clientcomputer or uploaded for the script to run on a server hosting theAffiliate Website (Step 15). Once the script is run, the table isconstructed and the product data is inserted therein.

In the section option “Create PHP Script”, the user creates a PHPscript, if supported by the web hosting company that serves theAffiliate Website (Step 16). The hosting company and database detailsare entered in the appropriate text boxes shown in the lower left-handside of the screen and the registered affiliate then clicks on a CreatePHP Script button 96, which results in generation of a file that is thenuploaded to the server and executed (Step 17).

The Products Generator program also provides an FTP facility which willupload the files to the Affiliate Website ready for use, therebyeliminating the need for any third-party FTP program or similar uploadutility.

Selection of either of the above-described options for outputting theproduct codes to an internet database results in the data beingavailable for serving alongside the Affiliate Website (Step 18).Referring now to FIG. 12, the “Output to CSV” tab in FIG. 10 has beenselected (Step 19). This screen allows the user to create a CSV filecontaining relevant data. A CSV file is a universally importable,comma-delimited text file which can be imported into any compatibleprogram such as but not limited to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Access,Microsoft Excel. The screen shown in FIG. 13 allows the user to selectall or none of the ten product windows (Step 20), or to selectindividual products by clicking on any of ten check boxes (Step 21). Theuser may also select whether the CSV file to be created should includeor exclude (Steps 22A, 22B) the product category and headings (Steps23A, 23B). When the user has made the desired selections, a “Create CSVFile” button is selected by the user (Step 24).

When the Advanced tab 72 in the Control Panel shown in FIG. 10 has beenselected (Step 25), the screen shown in FIG. 14 is displayed. Thisscreen allows the user to perform various edit features on a globalbasis.

For instance, the user may view, edit, or remove keywords in the keywordlist (Step 26). Thus, the Advanced screen is used for viewing andediting, e.g., adding, deleting or updating existing keywords in the PGFKeyword List file after the a product search and retrieval exercise hasalready been performed. Items or keywords can be inserted singly (Step27) or imported from, for instance, a list or CSV file (Step 28).

In addition, when a user selects a given keyword, the Advanced screencan display how many products are assigned to the selected keyword, thevalue of products retrieved for that keyword, and the commission valueof all the products retrieved for that keyword.

The user can also globally update and/or validate all the products inthe PGF file. This function allows the user to globally throughout theentire keyword list set the Product Window categories for each and everykeyword (Step 29). Alternately, the user can either update and/orvalidate each and every product in the Products Database (Steps 30, 31),update any disabled (Step 32) or empty (Step 33) product entries andusing the filter or alternative search term update and validate allproducts. This global option can be set so that each individual ProductWindow or a plurality of Product Windows can be updated and orvalidated.

It should be noted that the Control Panel described above andillustrated in FIGS. 10-14 operates while the Products Generator programis being executed on the client computer. As will be described ingreater detail below, the Products Generator program also creates a“live” Control Panel which enables the identical operations describedabove in connection with the Control Panel to be performed by aregistered affiliate directly from the Affiliate Website. The ProductsGenerator program does this by inserting software into the AffiliateWebsite to enable the above-described operations to be performeddirectly from the Affiliate.

Thus, the “live” Control Panel differs from the Products Generatorprogram Control Panel in that the “live” Control Panel runs in abrowser, i.e. Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or the like, and isused to edit the live data that is currently being served along with theAffiliate Website, i.e., the Products Database which is being used forthe Affiliate Website. Therefore, it follows that if the “live” ProductsDatabase is being edited, this will result in the changes beingreflected live on the Affiliate Website.

Contrastingly, the Products Generator program Control Panel works withinthe Products Generator program and edits a static PGF file on thecomputer. This file is static. If it is altered, then only this file ischanged and only the program operator can view the altered data.

Manual Product Entry

In addition to the fully automated method of searching for and acquiringproduct codes described above, the Products Generator program provides amanual input method for acquiring product codes. There are variousinstances where a registered affiliate may encounter a product ofinterest and want to acquire the code for such product without goingthrough the above-described process. Thus, the Products Generatorprogram provides a manual Product Grabber routine that enables manualproduct code acquisition. The Product Grabber routine allows aregistered affiliate to acquire product codes for any product from anywebsite, so long as the product itself originates from a participatingVendor Website (in this case, AMAZON.COM, ALLPOSTERS.COM,E-MERCHANDISE.COM, and ART.COM).

The Product Grabber routine is illustrated in FIGS. 15A-15C. FIG. 15A isa setup screen that is displayed when the Product Grabber softwareroutine is setup upon selection of the Setup Products Grabber button 16in the Switchboard screen shown in FIG. 2. To set up Products Grabber,the registered affiliate is prompted to identify one or more VendorWebsites and load a given setup.

After setting up Products Grabber, the registered affiliate may importany products of interest from the identified Vendor Websites. As shownin FIG. 15B, when the registered affiliate encounters a product ofinterest while viewing any website, right-clicking on the computer mousewhile the mouse pointer is located on the product causes a menu to bedisplayed on the monitor. The menu is similar to that generated by theWindows operating system in response to right-clicking on the mouse.However, the menu includes additional options entitled “ProductsGenerator—Grab Product” and “Products Generator—Grab Product (Program)”that allow the registered affiliate to “grab” the product code for thedesired product. The former option is a “live” version of ProductsGrabber that results in updating of the Affiliate Website. The latterversion is used when the Products Generator software is being executedand does not result in automatic updating of the Affiliate Website.

More specifically, once loaded on the computer of the RegisteredAffiliate, various Products Generator resources remain active and can berun at any time. These include the Products Grabber and manual inputresources and the Control Panel, as described above. The “Grab Product”option can be selected by the user at any time the Products Generatorprogram is running in the background. The “Grab Product—(Program)”option is selected by the user while the Products Generator program isactively running, such as during its first use.

When the registered affiliate selects one of the “Grab Product” options,the Manual Input screen shown in FIG. 15C is displayed on the monitor.The Manual Input screen contains various text boxes in which identifyingdata relating to the product code acquired from the Vendor Website aredisplayed, such as the link to the product and a description of theproduct. Thereupon, the product code is ready for specific ProductWindow selection and assignment.

While the Manual Input screen is automatically filled in by the ProductsGrabber routine, the Manual Input screen also enables manual input of aspecific product's details. The Products Generator program provides asearch facility within the Manual Input screen that enables a user tosearch for a specific product via the URL or vendor's product ID. Oncethe detail has been entered, it then retrieves all the product info.

In addition to inputting products manually, a user can also manuallyedit existing products via the same method.

(2) Website Database Wizard

As pointed out above, when the user selects the Website Database Wizardbutton 14 in the Switchboard screen shown in FIG. 2, the WebsiteDatabase Wizard is launched. FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the WebsiteDatabase Wizard and FIGS. 17-30 are screen images of the various screensgenerated by the Website Database Wizard. When the Database Wizard isinitially launched (Step 16A), the Welcome Screen shown in FIG. 17 isdisplayed to inform users that the Website Database Wizard enables usersto create a single or multiple web pages in a few short steps completewith all the code needed to display retrieved products stored in theProducts Database created by the Products Generator program.

When the user clicks on the Next box in FIG. 17, the Option Screen shownin FIG. 18 is displayed. The Option Screen provides users with twooptions for the creation of an Affiliate Website. Option 1 launches astandard Website Template Wizard which creates customized web pagescomplete with all the code necessary to display the retrieved productson the user's website (Step 16B). Option 2 launches a routine thatcreates PHP Scripts to be used within an existing Affiliate Website todisplay products (Step 16C).

Selection of Option 1 commences an automated process of creating anAffiliate Website with all the necessary coding to display retrievedproducts. Although selection of Option 1 will automatically create anAffiliate Website with a pre-prepared template design, it does allow theuser to select several feature options, as described below.

When the user has selected Option 1 and clicked on the Next box in FIG.18, the screen shown in FIG. 19 is displayed. This screen prompts theuser to enter into text boxes the title of the web page to be createdand the main heading to be inserted at the top of the web page (Step16D). In FIG. 19, the user has entered “My Web Page” as the title in theappropriate text box and “The Greatest Business in The World” as themain heading in the appropriate text box. The user has also selectedblack as the color of the main heading text.

When the user has clicked on the Next box in FIG. 19, the “Web PageFeatures” screen shown in FIG. 20 is displayed (Step 16E). This screenprompts the user to select the number of columns (1-3) of the web pageto be generated by clicking on the appropriate checkbox and allows theuser to specify whether or not a search box and a drop down list are tobe included in the Affiliate Website. Thus, selection of Option 1provides the user with several multi-choice options for the features ofthe Affiliate Website.

When the user clicks on the Next box in FIG. 20, the screen shown inFIG. 21 is displayed (Step 16F). In this screen, the user is prompted toclick on a checkbox to indicate whether or not products retrieved from aparticular Vendor Website are to be included in the Affiliate Website.In addition, the user is also prompted to indicate the number ofproducts that are to appear in each column of the Affiliate Website, aswell as the currency type products input from the Vendor Website, thecurrency type of products to be displayed on the Affiliate Website, andan appropriate conversion rate. The screen illustrated in FIG. 21assumes that the user has previously selected “three” columns in theFIG. 20 screen. In addition, the screen shown in FIG. 21 is specific tothe AMAZON.COM Vendor Website. However, if the user has conductedsearches of other Vendor Websites, additional screens similar to that inFIG. 21 will successively appear when the user clicks on the next buttonin FIG. 20 (Steps 16G, 16H and 16I).

In the screen shown in FIG. 22, the user is prompted to enterinformation needed to access the products data stored in the ProductsDatabase on the Affiliate Website (Step 16J). As can be seen, thisinformation includes Host, Database Name, Username and Password. Theuser then selects the Generate button to generate the PHP script. (Step16K).

By selecting Option 1 and following the instructions contained in thescreens illustrated in FIGS. 18-22 and steps 16B through 16K, theProducts Generator program produces a pre-defined template to enable auser to supply information to link to their uploaded Products Database(Step 16L).

FIG. 23 illustrates a screen generated by the Products Generator programwhen the user has selected Option 2 in FIG. 18. This option gives theuser greater control over the appearance of the Affiliate Website. WhenOption 2 is selected, the “Web Page. Features” screen shown in FIG. 24is displayed (Step 16M). In this screen, the user is prompted to selectindividual features for the Affiliate Website, including a Search Box, aDrop Down List, and an Individual Result.

When the user clicks on the Next box in FIG. 24, the screen shown inFIG. 25 is displayed, which prompts the user to select Vendor Websitesfrom which products are to be displayed on the Affiliate Website (Step16N).

When the user has selected the “individual result” in FIG. 24, thescreen shown in FIG. 26 is displayed (Step 16O). This screen allows theuser to devote an Affiliate Website or a single Affiliate web page toone particular person or subject and to include products relating onlyto that person or subject. In the illustrated example, the user hasentered Batman as the Individual Value and movies as the productcategory.

When the user has clicked on the next box in FIG. 26, the screen shownin FIG. 27 is displayed (Step 16P). This screen prompts the user toenter information needed to link to the uploaded Products Database,including Host, Database Name, Username and Password.

When the user clicks on the Generate button in FIG. 27, the WebsiteDatabase Wizard generates the HTML/PHP code, as shown in FIG. 28 (Step16Q). Under Option 1, the user must copy the HTML/PHP code and pasteinto the Affiliate web page. Under Option 2, the user must save the codeas a PHP file to upload to the server of the Affiliate Website. If theuser has saved the code as a PHP file, it can be uploaded separately andused below the <body> tag to access it.

Then, as shown in FIG. 29, after the code has been generated by theProducts Generator program in Step 16R, there are options available tothe user. For instance, the user may select the number of productsrequired from each Vendor Website by clicking on a drop-down list forselection (Step 16S).

Then, the code is displayed as shown in FIG. 30 and is ready to becopied and pasted (Step 16T). The user must copy and paste the code intothe Affiliate Website(s) below the <body> tag wherever the user requiresproducts to appear. (Step 16L)

(3) Control Panel Wizard

In order to enable the user to take advantage of the various editingfeatures of the Control Panel described above without the need to loadthe Products Generator computer program, the Products Generator programgenerates a “live” control panel that is built into the AffiliateWebsite and enables the registered affiliate to edit Product Windows inreal time.

The Control Panel described above in connection with the Product SearchSection of the Products Generator program and illustrated in FIGS. 10-14operates while the Products Generator program is being executed on theclient computer. However, the Products Generator program also creates a“live” Control Panel which enables the same Control, Panel operations tobe performed by a registered affiliate directly from the AffiliateWebsite. This is achieved by the insertion of software into theAffiliate Website to enable the above-described operations to beperformed directly from the Affiliate.

The “live” Control Panel differs from the Products Generator programControl Panel in that the “live” Control Panel runs in a browser, i.e.Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or the like, and is used to editthe live data that is currently being served along with the AffiliateWebsite, i.e., the Products Database which is being used for theAffiliate Website. Therefore, it follows that if the “live” ProductsDatabase is being edited, this will result in the changes beingreflected live on the Affiliate Website.

FIGS. 31-35 illustrate the features of the Control Panel Setup Wizardwhich sets up the live Control Panel.

In response to selection of the Control Panel Wizard selection button 15in FIG. 2, the welcome screen shown in FIG. 31 is displayed, whichinstructs the user that the Control Panel enables editing and viewing inreal time, on the Affiliate Website, products that the ProductsGenerator program brings back from Vendor Websites.

In FIG. 32, the user is prompted to select a Vendor Website from theparticipating Vendor Websites. A separate Control Panel is set up foreach of the Vendor Websites to enable the registered affiliate toindividually edit products from a respective Vendor Website directlyfrom the Affiliate Website. When the user has clicked on the Next box inFIG. 32, the screen shown in FIG. 33 is displayed. This screen promptsthe user to enter information needed to link to the uploaded ProductsDatabase, including Host, Database Name, Username and Password. FIG. 34prompts the user to enter the Affiliate ID or tracking number for theselected Vendor Website, and FIG. 35 permits the user to enter a UserName and Password in order to access the live Control Panel. When theforegoing information has been entered, Products Generator creates afile that is saved as a PHP script and uploaded to the server from whichthe Affiliate Website is served. This file allows the registeredaffiliate to perform any of the functions described above in connectionwith FIGS. 10-14 directly from the Affiliate Website rather thanrequiring the user to load the Products Generator program.

(4) “EMS”, or E-Commerce Management System

The Products Generator software system is of a type referred to as an“EMS” system. EMS is an acronym for E-Commerce Management System. Asopposed to the known Content Management System (CMS), EMS is a uniquestand-alone system capable of generating e-commerce.

EMS comes into existence when integrated into a CMS system. Forinstance, the database used by the website www.famouslocations.com is anexample of a CMS, and is a system of content storage for storing fordisplay items such as locations, actors, directors, movies, and thelike. The CMS provides keywords for the EMS product search.

The full integration of a EMS system into a CMS system involves the useof the EMS within the CMS system. For instance, from anywhere within theFamous Locations operations windows (such as the Movies Input Window),there is a link to the Products Generator program for the immediatesearch and retrieval of products. This means that if a user inputs anew, or old, movie title into the movies list of thewww.famouslocations.com website, an immediate search of theparticipating vendor(s) for commission-earning products, via theProducts Generator program, can be activated from a link on thewww.famouslocations.com Window. The same technique applies to actors,directors, etc. Any relevant keyword in any CMS can be used for theinstant activation of product searches using the EMS.

EMS Integrator, or E-Commerce Management System Integrator, is asoftware program or routine built into the Products Generator programthat will add all the necessary coding, plus banner and drop-down vendorlist containing the user's list of registered vendors to an existing ornew CMS, or Content Management System, (e.g., thewww.famouslocations.com database) to enable it to access or activate theEMS or E-Commerce Management System (Products Generator) from anywhereinside the CMS.

Using the www.famouslocations.com database as an example of a CMS, orContent Management System, this means that as a user inputs a new movietitle, location, actor's or director's name, or the like, the same usercan instantly generate products for that movie title, location, actor'sor director's name, etc., by activating one or more links to ProductsGenerator (the EMS, or E-commerce Management System) from the movietitle, location, actor's or director's name location input page onwww.famouslocations.com (the CMS).

FIG. 36 illustrates the Famous Locations (CMS or Content ManagementSystem) “Actor” input page with a Products Generator (the EMS orE-commerce Management System) banner and link to the “Get Products”function of the Products Generator program. The drop-down “Get Products”box has a list of vendors, AMAZON.COM, ALLPOSTERS.COM, ART.COM andEMERCHANDISE.COM. When a desired vendor is selected from the drop-downlist, the live Control Panel for that vendor is activated with thekeyword, which in this case is Russell Crowe, a well-known actor,carried forward into the Control Panel. At the same time, the keyword,Russell Crowe, is carried forward into a Refresh Window which isactivated with products retrieved from the vendor for that actor readyfor selection and to be placed into the Control Panel. The resulttherefore is that in 2 clicks from data input into the CMS the EMS isactivated with products available for selection.

FIG. 37 illustrates the Famous Locations (CMS or Content ManagementSystem) “Movie” input page with Products Generator (the EMS orE-commerce Management System) banner and link to “Get Products.” Thedrop-down “Get Products” box has a list of vendors, includingAMAZON.COM, ALLPOSTERS.COM, ART.COM and EMERCHANDISE.COM. When thedesired vendor is selected from the drop-down list the Control Panel forthat vendor is activated with the keyword, or name of movie, Titanic, asper this example carried forward into the Control Panel. At the sametime, the keyword, movie, Titanic, is carried forward into a RefreshWindow which is activated with products retrieved from the vendor forthat movie, Titanic, ready for selection and to be placed into theControl Panel. The result therefore is that in 2 clicks from data inputinto the CMS the EMS is activated with products available for selection.

Although the Products Generator program has been described above inconnection with a preferred embodiment which enables a user to searchfor and retrieve commission-earning products from a Vendor Website, thepresent invention is not limited to the foregoing description. Forinstance, the Products Generator program is also capable of retrievingand displaying any products, not limited to commission-earning products,from multiple Vendor Websites. The Products Generator program can alsobe used, for example, by a vendor to retrieve and display its ownproducts. Also, order fulfillment and credit card processing areadditional features of the Products Generator program. A vendor has itsown products and displays its own products via the Products Generatorprogram. For instance, if a customer clicks on any of the displayedproducts on the Vendor Website, the customer is clicked through to anorder fulfillment page and credit card processing page similar but notlimited to Worldpay. Accordingly, the present invention includes thesefeatures as well.

For instance, the Products Generator program also offers a facilitywhereby a piece of code is generated by the program and inserted intothe Affiliate Website via the Website Database Wizard, but not limitedto the Website Database Wizard, whereby a product designated by aparticular vendor can be inserted by the vendor into a “Special featureProducts Database” on the Affiliate Website. The special product is thendisplayed as a “special” for a specific keyword on the AffiliateWebsite. For example, if the vendor obtains a brand-new stock of TitanicCollectors Box Set DVDs, the vendor has the ability to instantly promoteit and establish it as a “special” for the keyword “Titanic” on all ofits registered affiliate's Affiliate Websites.

By this method, the vendor has the facility to promote to all of theregistered affiliates the vendor's latest special(s). If the AffiliateWebsite adopts the “special” product by manually inserting it into theaffiliate's own main Products Database as soon as the special appears inthe main products database, it is removed from the “special featureproducts database.”

This method saves on product runs and assures both the vendor and itsregistered affiliates that the latest and greatest products for everykeyword are being displayed.

1. A method for retrieving product codes from one or more VendorWebsites over a network and inserting the product codes into anAffiliate Website, comprising the steps of: obtaining a uniqueidentification code from an operator of a Vendor Website; creating akeyword list containing one or more keywords; establishing a connectionto the Vendor Website over the network; searching the Vendor Website forproducts offered for sale relating to the one or more keywords;acquiring product codes including graphic data and descriptive text forproducts obtained in the search of the Vendor Website along with a linkto the Vendor Website; inserting the unique identification code into theproduct codes; storing the product codes in a products database;displaying the product codes along with manually activatable editingbuttons which allow a user to individually and globally select,de-select and update products to modify the products database; anduploading the products database to a server to serve the productsdatabase along with the Affiliate Website so that viewers of theAffiliate Website can purchase the products.
 2. A method for retrievingproduct codes according to claim 1; wherein the step of creating akeyword list comprises the step of entering one or more words from thegroup consisting of movie titles, actors' names, musical performers,authors, artists, and sports figures.
 3. A method for retrieving productcodes according to claim 1; further comprising the step of storing theunique identification code in the products database along with eachindividual product.
 4. A method for retrieving product codes accordingto claim 1; further comprising the step of storing code in the AffiliateWebsite to allow a user to individually and globally select, de-selectand update products to modify the products database directly from theAffiliate Website.
 5. A method for retrieving product codes according toclaim 1; wherein the step of displaying the product codes furtherincludes the step of displaying a drop-down list containing all of thekeywords to enable the user to display all products corresponding to aselected one of the keywords.
 6. A method for retrieving product codesaccording to claim 1; wherein the step of displaying the product codescomprises the step of simultaneously displaying product codes for tenproducts obtained in the search.
 7. A method for retrieving productcodes according to claim 1; wherein the manually activatable editingbuttons which allow a user to individually and globally select,de-select and update products include a refresh button for allowing theuser to search for new product codes from the Vendor Website and replacea previously displayed product with a new product.
 8. A method forretrieving product codes according to claim 1; wherein the manuallyactivatable editing buttons which allow a user to individually andglobally select, de-select and update products include a clear button toerase a displayed product and allow a new product to be displayedtherefor.
 9. A method for retrieving product codes according to claim 1;wherein the manually activatable editing buttons which allow a user toindividually and globally select, de-select and update products includea padlock icon which allows a user to lock a displayed product into theproducts database Window so that it cannot be de-selected or replacedwithout first removing the lock.
 10. A method for retrieving productcodes according to claim 1; wherein the step of displaying furthercomprises the step of displaying a progress calculator indicating thevalue of products retrieved from the Vendor Website for each keyword andpotential commission earnings for sales of such products made via theAffiliate Website.
 11. A method for retrieving product codes accordingto claim 1; further comprising the step of creating a web page templatescontaining the product codes.